Wornes v Freewater Australia Pty Limited

In the matter of Shaun Wornes suing Freewater Australia Pty Limited and David Muir, the plaintiff has issued subpoenas to the defendants and Freewater Accountants Pty Limited seeking the production of various documents. The defendants have applied to have the subpoenas set aside on the basis that they lack a legitimate forensic purpose and constitute an abuse of process. The application has been narrowed by agreement between the parties to focus on specific paragraphs of the subpoenas. The court considered whether the subpoenas were apt to assist in the just resolution of the real issues in the proceeding, having regard to the overriding purpose of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) and Court Procedures Act 2004 (ACT) to facilitate the just, quick and cheap resolution of the real issues in proceedings. The court found that certain paragraphs of the subpoenas were overly broad and not focused enough on documents likely to shed light on the issues in the proceeding. However, other paragraphs seeking financial statements and records potentially relevant to the loan agreements were allowed. The application was otherwise dismissed and costs reserved.